Alarm for incubators.



0. ERIKSON.

ALARM FOR INCUBATORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAYH. 19:5.

' l 1 87,823 Patented June 20, 1916.

OTTO ERIKSON, OF INDIAHOMA, OKLAHOMA.

ALARM FOR INGUBATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 29 1f)1(j Application filed May 17, 1915. Serial No. 28,677.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO ERIKSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indiahoma, in the county of Comanche and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Alarms for Incu-' bators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to alarms for in cubators, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a novel mechanism of simple construction and efficient operation whereby an alarm will be automatically sounded when the temperature of an incubator reaches an abnormally high point or an abnormally low point.

A secondary object of the invention is to so arrange the working parts that they will occupy very little space and may be easily reached in order to be adjusted or to cut out the alarm when eggs are being placed in or removed from the incubator.

These stated objects, and such other objects as will incidentallyappear from the following description, are attained in an ap-' paratus of the character illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out, in the claims following the description.

In the drawings :-Figure 1 is a perspective view, diagrammatic in character, of a portion of an incubator showing my improved mechanism mounted on the top of the same; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic elevation on a larger scale of the working parts of the device; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspec tive view of the stationary contacts.

In the annexed drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates a portion of an incubator which may be of any desired or wellknown construction, and 2 indicates a portion of the lamp utilized to heat the interior of the incubator, the damper 3 for the lamp being carried by a damper rod 4 which is fulcrumed upon the top of the incubator and may be connected with a thermostat mounted within the incubator in any desired manner, the drawing showing a common form of rod arranged to be drawn downwardly at its inner end by the expansion of the thermostat.

In carrying out my invention, I employ the controlling rod 5 which is connected with the expansible element of the thermostat and extends through the top of the incubator, as shown. Upon the said rod, near the upper end of the same, I secure a block 6 by means of a set-screw 7, this block being preferably of some insulating material and carrying a contact pin 8 which projects through both the top and bottom of the block and is held therein by a set-screw 9 to which an electrical conductor 10 is secured. Upon the top of the incubator, I provide a block 11 of insulation which has a stepped upper edge, as shown at 12, and upon the stepped edge of this block or mount, I secure con tact members 18 and 11 which are preferleaf springs having protuberances 15 struck up at their free ends to form contact points. The arm 13 is disposed above the arm 14, and the contact points 15 are arranged in the same vertical plane with the contact point 8 so that, as the block (3 is carried in either direction to an abnormal extent, the said pin will impinge against and form an electrical connection with one of the said points.

Upon reference especially to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the block or mount 11 is beveled, as at 16, at the front of each tread or rest in its upper stepped edge. The contact members 13, 1 1, are each secured upon the mount 11 by two screws inserted through the member into the mount, one of said screws, 25, entering the higher flat portion of the supporting edge of the mount, while the other screw, 26, passes into the beveled portion of the said edge. It will be readily understood that the resiliency of the springs holds them against the heads of the respective screws 26 and that, consequently, by adjusting said screws the springs may be set so as to form contact with the pin 8 at such temperature as may be desired.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings, a switch arm 17 is pivoted to the down-turned end 27 of the lower contact arm 14 and has its free end arranged adjacent the end 28 of the upper contact arm 13, said end 28 being formed into a hook which will grip and hold the free end of the switch. An electrical conductor 18 has one end secured to the contact member 14 by the screw 25 and leads therefrom to a battery, indicated at 19. The conductor 10 is connected to a bell 20, and a conductor 21 connects the hell with the battery.

It is thought the operation of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

\Vhen a supply of eggs has been placed in the incubator and the heating device is set in operation, the switch 17 is turned in the position shown in Fig. 1, so that the end of the switch will engage and be held in the hook 28 of the upper contact member 13.

If the temperature in the incubator should now become too high, the expansion of the thermostat will pull down the governor rod 5 so that the contact pin 8 will be carried against the lower contact 15 and a circuit will. be closed through the arm 14 and the conductor 18 to the battery, passing on the other side through the conductor 10 to the bell and from the bell to the battery so that the bell will ring and will continue to ring until the circuit is broken by a lowering of the temperature and resultant upward movement of the rod 65 and contact block 6.

If the temperature should drop too low, the rod 5 will be raised and the pin 8 brought against the upper point 15 so that an alarm will then be sounded, the circuit passing through the arm 13 and the switch instead of the arm 14;.

It will be readily noted that the contacts 15 may be adjusted so that the device may be set to operate at any desired. temperature and the apparatus thus arranged to suit a wide range of conditions and circumstances. The bell, of course, may be placed at any distance from the incubator so that it may be located at any point most convenient to the owner of the incubator. The arrangement of the switch arm with the contact arms and the support for the same minimizes the number of parts necessary to the successful operation of the device, and also simplifies the wiring so that the alarm may be readily applied to any incubator by an unskilled person.

Vhen the eggs are to be removed from the incubator to be turned or slightly cooled, the switch is disengaged from the upper contact arm for the reason that, when the door of the incubator is opened, the temperature falls quickly and, if the switch were not disconnected, the alarm would sound continuously until the temperature increased. After the eggs are returned to the incubator, the switch is again engaged with the hook 28 and, if the low temperature alarm should then sound, the lamp may be turned up to increase the heat. Of course, the lamp may be turned down if the temperature gets too high.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

The combination of an insulated support having a stepped upper edge and. havin the forward portion of each step bevelc resilient contact arms each secured at one end upon an unbeveled portion of the stepped edge of said support and extending over the respectively subjacent beveled forward portion, adjusting screws inserted through the free ends of said arms into the respectively subjacent beveled portions of the support, and a movable contact disposed betwcen the free ends of said arms, said contact arms and movable contact being adapted for connection in an electric circuit.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OTTO ERIKSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

